COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Less than a week after an NBC4 Investigation revealed dangerous levels of lead in a drinking fountain at Ohio’s Statehouse, testing by the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board (CSRAB), which oversees the operations at Ohio’s center of government, has revealed elevated levels of lead in three locations.

CSRAB Director, William Carlton confirmed that testing of all 17 water fountains and five faucets, revealed levels of lead at two drinking fountains; including the fountain shut down after our NBC4 Investigation and at a faucet in a Statehouse kitchen.

While Carlton said he would not provide the lab results at this time, he confirmed that lead was found at 5 parts per billion (ppb) in water from a drinking fountain on the second floor of the Senate Building and at 11 ppb in the drinking fountain on the first floor of Senate Building, which is the same fountain where samples in our NBC4 Investigation found much higher levels of lead.

In addition, Carlton says a faucet in a kitchen registered 10 ppb of lead.

Our NBC4 Investigation revealed 25ppb and 23.8ppb of lead in two separate samples obtained in two weeks from that drinking fountain, which triggered CSRAB to bag that fountain and order further tests. Both samples, tested at Advanced Analytical Labs in Columbus were above the EPA action level of 15ppb for lead, which is considered dangerous to drink. (Advanced Analytical Labs is the same lab CSRAB used to test its samples).

While all the CASAB results are below the EPA action level, Director Carlton says more tests have been ordered at the statehouse to determine why lead is in the water at the statehouse.

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